Rodriguez Ties Gehrig’s Grand Slam Record in Win Over Braves

ATLANTA — As well as the Yankees have played this month, the one bothersome aspect of their game has been their inability to hit with the bases loaded. That even applied to Alex Rodriguez who, despite being one of the most productive hitters ever with the bases full, has struggled terribly in those situations this season.

But with one ferocious swing of his bat Tuesday, that changed, and so did the record book.

With the Yankees trailing by 4-0 with one out in the eighth inning, Rodriguez hit his biggest home run of the season, a grand slam off the hard-throwing reliever Jonny Venters to awaken the Yankees dugout and a loud contingent of ecstatic Yankees fans at Turner Field.

The blast, a line drive on a full-count pitch after a terrific at-bat, was Rodriguez’s 23rd, tying him with Lou Gehrig for first place on the career list.

Rodriguez smoked the ball over the left-field wall, where it landed in the hat of a 15-year old Yankees fan from North Carolina who said he made the five-hour drive south to see his favorite team play for the first time.

“It means a lot,” Rodriguez said. “It’s very special. This game is very, very difficult and if you’re not going to enjoy these great moments, then it’s not any fun. Lou Gehrig was not only one of the all-time greats, but he was one of ours, a Yankee.”

Photo

Alex Rodriguez’s bases-loaded home run was his first since June 3, his 10th of the season, and his first grand slam this year.Credit
Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

Robinson Cano followed Rodriguez’s grand slam with a single, and after the Braves replaced Venters with the right-hander Cory Gearrin, Nick Swisher hit a high drive into the seats in right center, capping a six-run inning as the Yankees won their fifth straight game.

“What a game,” Swisher said. “I mean, right? What a game.”

The victory gave the Yankees sole possession of first place in the American League East for the first time since April 21, thanks in part to the Mets, who pounded the Rays, 11-2. The Yankees moved 11 games over .500 (36-25) by winning for the 16th time in 20 games.

But they had foundered for seven innings against Braves starter Mike Minor, despite the fact that he had allowed the most home runs, 14, in the National League coming into the game. And as the Yankees have shown 12 times this year, when they do not hit a home run, they do not win.

Minor got one out in the eighth, but then gave up a single to Derek Jeter and was removed in favor of Venters. Curtis Granderson singled and Mark Teixeira walked, bringing Rodriguez to the plate. Coming into the game, he was only 1 for 10 with the bases loaded, and had struck out three times. He was also 0 for 4 Tuesday to that point.

As a team, the Yankees were 10 for 67 with the bases loaded, for a mere .149 average, coming into the game.

Rodriguez went ahead in the count, 3-0. Hee took the next pitch for strike one, fouled off the one after that, and then barely fouled a 94-mile-per-hour sinker off his leg, twisting his body as he barely touched the ball with the bat to stay alive.

Venters threw another two-seamer on the second full-count pitch, this one at 93 m.p.h., and Rodriguez turned on it with his best swing. The ball cruised like a laser over the wall.

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For Rodriguez, tying Gehrig is one of many milestones he has reached that places him with some of the game’s greatest players. The home run, the 639th of his career, moved him within 21 of Willie Mays for fourth on the career list.Credit
Tami Chappell/Reuters

“I hit a ball similar to it yesterday and it was a double,” Rodriguez said. “I knew it was at least a double. When it carried out I was, uhh, really happy.”

The home run got C. C. Sabathia off the hook for a potential loss after he gave up four runs in seven innings. Instead, he earned the win thanks to Swisher’s home run. Rafael Soriano pitched a perfect ninth for his 100th career save, his first since he blew one on Sunday.

But none of it would have been possible without Rodriguez’s homer, and he was said he was humbled to have joined Gehrig.

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“I’ve been a huge admirer of Lou Gehrig and his history and what he stands for,” Rodriguez said. “The way he respected the game and the way he respected the pinstripes. There’s a stoic-ness about him and a professionalism that I really enjoyed. Look we set the bar really high around here, not only for me, but for all my teammates, and we’re all following Lou Gehrig.”

After speaking to reporters, Rodriguez met with Randy Kearns, the boy who caught the ball and his brother, Hunter, and their mother. Right before the slam Randy said he told his mother that it would be great if he could catch a ball.

He did, with his gray Yankee hat, and when he gave it to Rodriguez, he and his brother received autographed jerseys, balls and bats from Rodriguez.

Mariano Rivera had surgery Tuesday to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and the Yankees said the operation went as planned. They expect Rivera to be back in time for spring training next year. ... Relief pitcher Dave Robertson (oblique) is expected to be activated Friday.

A version of this article appears in print on June 13, 2012, on Page B14 of the New York edition with the headline: Rodriguez Ties Gehrig for No. 1 in Grand Slams. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe